ROSWELL

One of the benefits of being a beer writer is that I sometimes get to taste beers that most people don’t. Which is great for me, but not much help when it comes to putting together an accessible list of great beers. Roswell, released in July, was a difficult beer to try because there was only a small amount, and it sold out quickly. But the brewery did its best to make it available to people who stopped in — on draft, at least — and it’s worth including on this list despite its rarity, because it was outstanding. Roswell is a lambic-style sour beer that was spontaneously fermented and barrel-aged over the course of about nine months; it was then re-fermented in five batches with five different kinds of fruit: apricot, blackberry, cranberry, guava and raspberry. And each one was like a burst of that fruit times ten, with aromas to match and magical simplicity that belied the complexity with which they were concocted. Black Project continues to innovate, and even if you can only catch one special release during the year, it's worth it. -Westword